Despite appearing to be a perfectly simple concept, the idea of tailoring community care to the needs of individuals has given rise to a number of fundamental questions. Here Patrick Bradley takes a closer look at how the needs of people with learning disabilities are defined at a local level and compares the provision of these needs by formal and informal carers.

One of the most important objectives of the policy of community care is that services should be designed to suit individual needs (Department of Health 1989. Parag.1.11). This apparently simple objective has been the source of considerable debate, not least because need is a notoriously difficult concept to define (Brad-shaw 1972, Richards 1994).